The humble vanilla bean. I love it dammit.

[snowboybrown7]

Just bought a pound of tahitian extract grade beans on ebay for $13 US + Shipping. Roughly 160-170 beans, according to the auction. You folks have me excited.

[SuburbanStiller]

Shop around for those vanilla beans. I was impatient and naive and bought 1 (one) bean at Safeway for $12.99. The Mrs. went to Costco and bought 10 beans for the same money.

I'm all out of my vanilla hooch, so I'm making more. Tossed in some charred oak this time too. I'm expecting very good things.

[blind drunk]

Throw in some orange zest - vanilla, charred oak and some zest is the bomb. After some time, it blends perfectly.

[Bushman]

I have never had a vanilla bean go bad but you guys that are buying large quantities on ebay got me thinking about the shelf life of a vanilla bean. The following is a cut and past from an internet search on the life of a vanilla bean.

Vanilla Storage:
Beans should be kept in a tightly-closed container in a refrigerated area where they should last up to six months. Pure vanilla extract has an indefinite shelf-life, and actually improves with age. Vanilla powder is also available, which should also be kept tightly-sealed, in a cool, dry place away from sun and heat. Whole beans that have been used in sauces or other liquids can be rinsed, thoroughly dried, and stored for reuse.

Hope this information is helpful!

[pistachio_nut]

I made some vanilla vodka back when. The best recipe I have come up with is:

1. Go to http://www.culinarydistrict.com/Product ... as-4-Count and pick up a couple of those Tahitian beans. Look at them, feel them, smell them, slit one from end to end and strip the vanilla out of the middle. It's a dark brown paste, a little thinner than canned tomato paste. Thicker than spaghetti sauce, though. They're kind of expensive, but you can use them as the standard by which to judge the quality of your vanilla beans you buy from elsewhere. The Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans are dry and crusty by comparison. The ones at Safeway are just horrible, I wouldn't bother. You won't either, once you know the standard by which to judge.

2. Get out your vacuum sealer and Ball jar attachment. Pour your distillate into a ball jar, slice your beans from end to end to facilitate the transfer of material from the inside of the bean to your distillate, cap, and suck 28 pounds of vacuum on the bottle. Watch the bubbles form on the surface of the bean, and watch the vanilla disperse from inside the bean and infuse the distillate. Allow the pressure to stay on that infusion for a week or two. Once the liquid is an opaque and dark brown, you can unseal the cap and enjoy.

3. I toss the beans at that point. I want the most fragrant and tasty part of the bean infused into my distillate, not the taste of the fibrous husk.

I have not made vanilla vodka for a couple years, but it's definitely in my plans for the near future. It was absolutely delicious.

Another one that was very good was to take a bag of Trader Joe's flash frozen peach slices and a bag of Trader Joe's flash frozen black cherries, and pack a couple Ball jars with fruit. Add distillate, give an inch of headspace. For this recipe I would use the strongest distillate I had available, because the fruit juice will dilute your distillate quite a bit. Pump 28 pounds of vacuum, let 'er sit a week, strain, and store.

Other infusions I had a lot of luck with were black pepper, sliced ginseng root, sliced ginger root, juniper berries (a little goes a long way), cinnamon sticks (a little goes a long way), orange zest, lemon zest, coriander, anything else that goes in/with gin, pears, peaches, apples, etc. I stay away from strawberries because the woody taste of the seeds makes its way into the distillate and dominates. I haven't done marion berries... wonder how they'd work out. Blueberries tend to carry the woody taste of the woody parts of the berries.

I found a lot of success with using separate Ball jars for each kind of fruit or spice, and combining them into whatever kind of thing I cared to make later. You never know what's going to tickle your palate.

[Bushman]

I've never tried the vacuum technique, I usually put the berries in a cheese cloth and then soak them in the vodka for three weeks to a month then filter!

[MuleKicker]

I have to say. I didnt give this thread much thought when i first saw it. Now..... I like a vanilla tone to my bourbon.. .so what the hell. I bought a bag of madagascar bourbon beans off ebay. 12.99 shipped to the house. I threw 1 6" bean into my 1.75l jug of UJSM that has been aging for about 6-7mo. I have never quite been happy with it.. Now, 1 day later that stuff has the nicest subtle hint of vanilla. Great stuff. Great stuff.

[Bushman]

Glad it worked for you Mule Kicker I found the same results!

[ArkyJ]

For what it is worth.
The vanila beans arrived and they smelled like: Gee! I am shocked. Vanilla.
Took one bean and put into a quart jar of 57% Sweetfeed and extra blackstrap malasses hearts, oaked, and left it there for a week.
Ran a blackstrap dark rum with 2 vanilla beans in the tower. Kept just a little of the heads and the first of the hearts in a quart jar, at 54% and aired for 4 days.

The sweetfeed has a great nose to it and tastes absolutly great.
The dark rum smells somewhere between bad to ok and tastes great.

Yeah, their not the same, but close. I'll let the dark rum age for a couple of months to see if the smell gets better, but until then no more beans in the tower.
ArkyJ

[MuleKicker]

Glad it worked for you Mule Kicker I found the same results!

I found it quite amazing that in 1 day that little bean wiped out the last little bit of bite. The stuff is damn smooth....damn smooth.

[kronikbud]

Ive got some neutral lying around and some neutral thats been oaking for a month or so, i also have some fresh vanilla beans. How much should i add to the neutral and how much to the oaking neutral and for how long would you recommend? I have thought of making vanilla vodka before but wasnt sure how long to age it and weather to cut the beans up or leave them whole... Any ideas?

[rtalbigr]

kronikbud - Time is going to depend on your taste, I leave one bean/qt for about a month and the flavor comes thru nicely, but usually I just leave it in until I drink it. Ya don't have to cut them up but you do have to split them so the inside is exposed, that's the only way the flavor will come out.

Big R